Sidewalk project moves to Columbian school

Workers on a project to add nearly 2,000 feet of sidewalk to parts of Carthage will move from Central Park to the Columbian School area next week.

John Hacker

Workers on a project to add nearly 2,000 feet of sidewalk to parts of Carthage will move from Central Park to the Columbian School area next week.

Carthage Public Works Director Zeb Carney said workers finished putting down 570 feet of sidewalk on the north side of Central Park, including reseeding areas of dirt disturbed by the construction, on Thursday.

On Monday the workers, with CBH Construction LLC out of Monett, the contractor on the project, will move to the streets around Columbian School to install more than 1,400 feet of sidewalks along a few streets around that elementary school.

The total cost of the project, according to Carney, is $76,327, with 80 percent of that cost being paid by the federal government, through the Missouri Department of Transportation.

The city will pay the remaining 20 percent, or $15,625.40.

Carney said the city originally requested more than $250,000 to install sidewalks around all the schools that don’t already have sidewalks, but federal budget limitations led to the state and the feds awarding only parts of each city’s requests.

Carney said he worked with Carthage School Assistant Superintendent Mark Baker to determine which school had the greatest need for sidewalks and a survey of each school led them to put the sidewalks around Centennial. The 570 feet on the north side of Central Park was related to the Middle School.

“We had to figure out where we could get the most sidewalk footage for the least amount of money,” Carney said. “We worked with the school district to see where their highest need was and between Mr. Baker and myself, we came up with this plan.”

Carney said crews will install 275 feet of sidewalk along Harrington Street between Ash and Macon streets; 840 feet along Macon Street from Harrington to Regan streets; and 620 feet along Regan Street from Macon to Budlong streets.

Crews will move to Macon Street on Monday.

Carney said weather permitting the crews should be finished in the next two to two and a half weeks.